Help Needed: NPA to restrict doggie access to recreation areas

I have been a very good dog, but apparently good doggies will not be rewarded for their good behavior. The National Park Service decided about ten years ago that they wanted to restrict dog access to recreation areas and single-mindedly hatched a plan to carry this out under the guise of a "study". The question they should have asked was: How can we preserve and protect the interests of wildlife, tourists, horseback riders and dogs in these RECREATION areas? Instead, they asked, how can we RESTRICT the access of dogs? Why do we think this? Because, they did not add any acreage for us doggies or even keep it constant by swapping some sites for others. Instead, they prefer a drastic reduction in areas where dogs can roam free (under voice control). The number of urban dogs has increased due to the fact that residents of the Bay Area really like dogs, there are more humans and because humans now understand dog psychology better so they are able to support a well-balanced dog, like me. They do this by hiring dog walkers and other caretakers who exercise us at these public places where there is land to RUN FREE (with pack supervision, of course). And, because of the increase in the number of urban dogs, the number of dog walkers/caretakers has increased. Despite all of the this, the NPS also wans to restrict the number of dogs a dog walker can walk at one time to three. Eh?? That would mean one of two things: either the cost would double or triple so only wealthy people could afford such services or dog walkers will cease to exist because they wouldn't be able to make a living. The NPS considers these economic impacts "negligible".


For me, I won't be able to explore Land's End without a leash. No more walking the walls of Sutro Baths. And, I won't be allowed to play in the pine forest in Ft. Miley even with a leash. I won't be able to hike around the dunes of Ft. Funston, either. And, I'll be restricted to a small strip of beach at Crissy Field, never mind Muir Beach, where I will be prohibited from enjoying, leash or no leash. I'm beginning to appreciate the New Hampshire State Motto: Live Free or Die. At Ocean Beach, I won't be allowed at all in the southern part of the beach which starts approximately at the end of where Golden Gate Park hits the Great Highway.

How to take action.

• The entire GGNRA Draft Dog Management document is on-line. Read the Executive Summary (third document down the list).
• Study the proposed preferred and proposed alternatives for each of your favorite areas. 
• Comment on-line to the NPS by April 14th, 2011 (11:59 pm Mountain Time). This and snail mail are the only ways to address your concerns as phone, email or faxes will not be considered. 
• Attend one of the public open-house meetings held in the first week of March.

No more packs greater than THREE.

No more running up and down the dunes at FF.

No plan to restrict these scavengers who  will happily raid
snowy plover nests since they won't have ME to chase them away!

Yipes! I also just found out that a man was found dead on Ocean Beach on New Year's Eve. Ma and I were there that day - exactly when he was found around 11:30 AM. You might remember it was kind of a dreary day. 

Maybe I was distracted by that foamy crab....

but, I don't remember a dead guy!

Well, maybe he was waaay south of where we were. In any case, if you live in the Bay Area and own a human, have them speak for you or, as they said in an Examiner article, speak now or forever hold your leash.

Be good, be safe and til my next misadventure, what say we rename the NPS, No Park Service.